Main content

Irvine Welsh's Performers, Bookshop economics, England Is Mine, CN Lester on Stone Butch Blues

Irvine Welsh, bookshop economics, Morrissey's early years and CN Lester's Queer Icon Stone Butch Blues.

Irvine Welsh discusses Performers, a new one-act play he has co-written with Dean Cavanagh about the '60s cult film Performance. Directed by Donald Cammell and cinematographer Nicolas Roeg, it starred James Fox and Mick Jagger. Welsh's play dramatises the casting process in which East End criminals were sought for the villain roles.

When James Daunt became Managing Director of the bookshop chain Waterstones in 2011, the company was receiving £27m per year selling its window space and high-profile in-store locations to publishers who wanted greater visibility for their books. He immediately stopped the practice, but what were the repercussions? James Daunt and Will Atkinson, Managing Director of Atlantic Books, discuss bookshop economics and the role of the 'recommendation'.

Morrissey's early years get the rock-star biopic treatment in the film England Is Mine. Anita Sethi reviews.

For Front Row's Queer Icons series, singer-songwriter and LGBTI rights activist CN Lester chooses Leslie Feinberg's semi-autobiographical novel Stone Butch Blues, a coming-of-age story about Jess Goldberg, who challenges sexual and gender definitions in a pre-Stonewall America.

Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Edwina Pitman.

Available now

30 minutes

Chapters

  • Irvine Welsh's Performers

    Duration: 09:04

  • Bookshop economics

    Duration: 08:13

  • England is Mine

    Duration: 05:44

  • C N Lester's Queer Icon

    Duration: 04:59

Irvine Welsh's Performers

Irvine Welsh's Performers

Performers by Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanagh is at The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh as part of The Fringe Festival, from 04 - 13 August and 15 - 27 August 2017.

The play is suitable for those over the age of 14.

Images: Main image above: Irvine Welsh

Image to the left: A scene from Performers

Image credit: Alex Brenner

England is Mine

England is Mine

England is Mine opens in UK cinemas on 04 August 2017, certificate 15.

Image: Jack Lowden as the young Morrissey in England is Mine

CN Lester on Stone Butch Blues

CN Lester on Stone Butch Blues

CN Lester's Queer Icon is Leslie Feinberg's book Stone Butch Blues.

The Queer Icons highlights special, presented by Alan Carr, is on Radio 4 on Tuesday 08 August 2017 at 11.30am

Front Row's Queer Icons

More about CN Lester

Credits

RoleContributor
Interviewed GuestIrvine Welsh
Interviewed GuestJames Daunt
Interviewed GuestWill Atkinson
Interviewed GuestAnita Sethi
Interviewed GuestCN Lester
PresenterJohn Wilson
ProducerEdwina Pitman

Broadcast

  • Fri 4 Aug 201719:15

BBC Arts Digital

BBC Arts Digital

The best of British culture live and on demand.

Inspire

Inspire

A season discovering where artists find inspiration and helping listeners get creative.

Podcast